Providing mobile communication service using a dongle device

Abstract

A system may receive, from a dongle device (“dongle”), a connection request to receive mobile communication service (“service”) associated with a service campaign (“campaign”) for a mobile device: the mobile device being associated with a first service provider (“SP”); the dongle being associated with a second SP and the campaign; the dongle being configured to provide the service from the second SP to the mobile device; and the connection request including a dongle device identifier (“identifier”) associated with the dongle. The system may compare the identifier with stored identifiers associated with the campaign. The system may determine that the identifier is associated with the campaign if the identifier matches one of the stored identifiers and may cause a connection to be established to provide the service to the mobile device via the dongle based on the identifier being associated with the campaign.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system, comprising:
 one or more devices to:
 receive, from a dongle device, a connection request to receive mobile communication service associated with a service campaign for a mobile device,
 the mobile device being associated with a first service provider, 
 the dongle device being associated with a second service provider and the service campaign and being configured to provide the mobile communication service from the second service provider to the mobile device, 
 the connection request including a dongle device identifier associated with the dongle device; 
 
 compare the dongle device identifier included in the connection request with stored dongle device identifiers associated with the service campaign; 
 determine that the dongle device identifier included in the connection request is associated with the service campaign if the dongle device identifier matches one of the stored dongle device identifiers; and 
 cause a connection to be established to provide mobile communication service to the mobile device via the dongle device based on the dongle device identifier being associated with the service campaign. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , where the dongle device is coupled and removable from the mobile device. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , where the one or more devices are further to:
 determine whether campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied; and, when causing the connection to be established, where the one or more devices are to: 
 cause the connection to be established to provide the mobile communication service to the mobile device via the dongle device when the campaign conditions are satisfied. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , where, when determining whether the campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied, the one or more devices are to:
 determine whether a particular quantity of the campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied; and, when causing the connection to be established, where the one or more devices are to: 
 cause the connection to be established to provide the mobile communication service to the mobile device via the dongle device when the particular quantity of the campaign conditions are satisfied. 
 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 3 , where, when determining whether the campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied, the one or more devices are to:
 deny the connection request when the campaign conditions are not satisfied; and 
 provide a notification to the dongle device and/or the mobile device that the connection request is denied. 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 3 , where, when determining whether the campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied, the one or more devices are to:
 deny the connection request when a particular quantity of the campaign conditions are not satisfied; and 
 provide a notification to the dongle device and/or the mobile device that the connection request is denied. 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 3 , where, when determining whether the campaign conditions, associated with the service campaign, are satisfied, the one or more devices are to:
 ignore the connection request when the campaign conditions are not satisfied. 
 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , where a mobile communication service, associated with the first service provider, is unavailable to the mobile device. 
     
     
       9. A computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive, from a dongle device that is coupled to a mobile device, a connection request to receive mobile communication service, associated with a service campaign, for the mobile device,
 the mobile device not being associated with a service provider associated with the service campaign, 
 the dongle device being associated with the service provider and the service campaign and being configured to provide the mobile communication service from the service provider to the mobile device, 
 the connection request including a dongle device identifier associated with the dongle device; 
 
 compare the dongle device identifier included in the connection request with stored dongle device identifiers associated with the service campaign; 
 determine that the dongle device identifier included in the connection request is associated with the service campaign if the dongle device identifier matches one of the stored dongle device identifiers; and 
 permit a connection to be established to provide mobile communication service to the mobile device via the dongle device based on the dongle device identifier being associated with the service campaign. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
 count a quantity of time and/or data used in association with the connection to determine usage information; and 
 provide the usage information to a packet data network gateway and/or an authentication, authorization, and accounting server. 
 
     
     
       11. The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , where, when determining that the dongle device identifier included in the connection request is associated with the service campaign, the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
 deny the connection request when the dongle device identifier does not match any of the stored dongle device identifiers; and 
 provide a notification to the dongle device and/or the mobile device that the connection request is denied. 
 
     
     
       12. The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , where the connection request includes a telephone number, an e-mail address, and/or a uniform resource locator. 
     
     
       13. The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , where the dongle device is configured to receive power from the mobile device and receive an instruction to attempt the connection request. 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , where the stored dongle device identifiers associated with the service campaign are provided by a provisioning control device. 
     
     
       15. A method, comprising:
 receiving, by one or more devices and from a dongle device, a connection request for receiving mobile communication service associated with a service campaign for a mobile device,
 the mobile device being associated with a first service provider, 
 the dongle device being associated with a second service provider and the service campaign and being configured to provide the mobile communication service from the second service provider to the mobile device, 
 the connection request including a dongle device identifier associated with the dongle device; 
 
 comparing, by the one or more devices, the dongle device identifier included in the connection request with stored dongle device identifiers associated with the service campaign; 
 determining, by the one or more devices, that the dongle device identifier included in the connection request is associated with the service campaign if the dongle device identifier matches one of the stored dongle device identifiers; 
 determining, by the one or more devices, whether a campaign condition, associated with the service campaign, is satisfied; and 
 permitting, by the one or more devices, a connection to be established for providing mobile communication service to the mobile device via the dongle device based on the dongle device identifier being associated with the service campaign and the campaign condition being satisfied. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , where determining whether the campaign condition is satisfied, comprises:
 determining that the connection request is within a valid time period for the service campaign,
 the valid time period being specified in the campaign condition, 
 the campaign condition being satisfied when the connection request is within the valid time period. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , where determining whether the campaign condition is satisfied, comprises:
 determining, that the connection request originated from within a geographic region for the service campaign,
 the geographic region being specified in the campaign condition, 
 the campaign condition being satisfied when the connection request originated from within the geographic region. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 15 , where determining whether the campaign condition is satisfied, comprises:
 determining that a quantity of time, allotted to the service campaign, is available for the mobile communication service,
 the quantity of time, allotted to the service campaign, being specified in the campaign condition, 
 the campaign condition being satisfied when the quantity of time is available. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 15 , where determining whether the campaign condition is satisfied, comprises:
 determining that a quantity of bytes, allotted to the service campaign, is available for the mobile communication service,
 the quantity of bytes, allotted to the service campaign, being specified in the campaign condition, 
 the campaign condition being satisfied when the quantity of bytes is available. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 providing information, associated with usage, for the mobile communication service to be attributed to the dongle device and/or the mobile device, to a packet data network gateway and/or an authentication, authorization, and accounting server.